Electrical outlet box attaching tool



May 17, 1949.

l s A, MORE l ELECTRICALl OUTLET B'OXATTACHING TOOL Filed June 13., 1947 d4 .n o il@ 5 J0, w a 8 o w Z G 7 v Patented May 17, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Sidney A. Moore, Phoenix, Ariz.

Application J une 13, 1947, Serial No. 754,492

6 Claims. (Cl. 1-47) This invention pertains to electrical outlet box attaching tools.

As is well known in the art, electrical outlet boxes are of two general types, solid and sectional. Heretofore, solid boxes could only be secured to wall frame members by building headers between the frames and fastening by screws driven through the back of the box. Sectional boxes could be mounted, securely, only by opening the box, which is usually done by taking out a screw and removing the side of the box, and nailing through holes in the other side of the box directly to the wall frame members. Both of these methods are slow and inefficient.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a tool to speed up the operation of setting outlet boxes of al1 types. It further has for its objects:

First, the provision of a hand operated tool adapted to hold an electrical outlet or switch box while it is positioned for attachment on a wall structure, and then fasten it tc said Wall structure by forcing it, together with nails or tabs, into elements of the wall structure;

Second, the provision of a tool having a pair of compression jaws adapted to be drawn together by mechanical means, one of said jaws being designed to be positioned on a stud inember of a wall frame and the other being provided with an outlet box holding jaw and a forcing plate and means for attaching and retaining an electrical outlet box thereon in a predetermined position;

Third, the provision of a tool for attaching electrical outlet boxes to stud members of a wall frame; the tool comprising a frame fittedv with a handle and a positioning jaw to enable it to be set and retained on a wall stud at a desired vertical position and at a predetermined depth, and a movable jaw having means to retain an electrical outlet box thereon, supported in said .frame in slidable relation to said frame jaw, and ratchet mechanism operable by a handle adapted to force said movable jaw toward said frame jaw.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

I attain the foregoing objects by means of the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view cf the whole device with trical outlet box, of the type Commonly used in house wiring to provide a reproof shell and base for wall plugs, switches and the like, shown in offset expanded relation to the movable box holding jaw, Figure 5.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts in the several Views.

This tool has a plate shaped body or frame 2 formed of plates 3 and 4 joined by bolts o-r rivets 5.

A stationary positioning jaw 6, made of an angle piece, is set in a notch 'I on the front of this frame with its apex 8 at right angles to the upper and lower faces of the frame.

The outer ange IIl of this angle piece forms a compression plate and is adapted to lit against the side of a Wall frame member I I when the flange I2` of the angle piece is pressed against the outer face of such Wall mem-ber. The flange l2 forms a positioning plate and is provided With transverse screws I4 acting as positioning stops for determining the set out of the box from the wall member. The inner tips of these screws are atterled except for a Central tip 40 which is sharpened so that each screw Will engage into member I I when pressed against it.

A slideway I5 is formed between frame plates 3 and 4, extends at right angles to the compression plate I0, and is shaped to receive slide i6 of movable jaw 20. This slide I6 has ratchet teeth I 8 along its outer edge, opening and inclined toward jaw 20.

A holding and positioning handle 22 extends outward and rearward from frame body 2, and a movable handle 23 is operable to and from this positioning handle on a pvot bearing 2li, Handle 23 carries a pivoted pawl 25 which is positioned to engage teeth I8 on slide I6. This motion of handle 23 toward handle 22 moves slide IS and jaw 2l! toward jaw 6.

On jaw 20 there is a, box holding pressure plate 36 having an inner face 3l adjacent the inner face of stationary jaw compression plate II). On

the opposite side of plate 3l! a slot 32 is cut to fit on jaw 20 and aid in attaching it. On each side of this slot are leaf springs 33, looped back and curved to press against the inner face 36 of the outer` wall 34 of outlet box 35. The pressure of these springs draws the opposite face 31 of inner Wall 39 against face 3| of plate 3B and resiliently secures the box thereon and holds nails 38 in place.

In use, box 35 is placed on movable jaw 2B by slipping it over plate 30 and springs 33 until the inner edge oi box side 39 abuts depth stops 4l. Nails 38 are placed in holes 416 in the box side prior to :this operation and are held in place by reason of their heads being compressed against face 3l of plate 30. The tool, held by handle 32, is then pressed against and temporarily positioned on a wall frame member Il, with the sharpened tips 40 of depth positioning and depth gauging screws lll set into the material of member Il.

Handle 23 is then worked back `and forth toward handle 22 so that pawl 25 forces movable jaw 2l), plate 30 and box 35, toward compression plate Iii. This forces nails 38 into the member Il and secures the box 35 to the wall member. The box may also be provided with sharpened tabs 69 which aid in securing it in place and preventing wobble. These tabs, if used, are set into wall frame member Il during the same operation that sets the nails.

Thus the operation of setting these outlet boxes in -walls becomes the matter of seconds rather than minutes. The device operates with solid boxes as well as sectional boxes, and the over all efiiciency of installing electrical wiring in dwelling structures is greatly simplied and speeded.

While I have shown but one form and example of my device, it is to be understood that it may be made in various forms and sizes and with many equivalent mechanical substitutes of parts. In view of this it is intended that the following claims be liberally construed.

I claim:

1. A tool for attaching 4outlet boxes to wall frame -members comprising a plate-shaped body having a jaw thereon with a pressure plate thereon, a location `and depth gauging plate in right angular relation thereto, a movable jaw having a box holding pressure plate with spring elements adapted to retain an outlet box thereon, and a slide operating in said frame so as to move said box toward said pressure plate on said body jaw in `parallel relation therewith and means for forcing said movable jaw and box holding pressure plate toward said pressure plate on said frame jaw including a hand lever on said body, having a pawl, and a ratchet operated thereby on said movable jaw slide.

2. A hand tool for attaching outlet boxes to frame =wall members including, in combination, a plate-shaped body having a jaw means adapted to position said body on a wall frame member including ya compression plate thereon, a positioning plate at right angles thereto having depth gauging screws transversely operative therethrough, a movable jaw slideway, a positioning handle, and a pivotally mounted handle provided with a pawl; a movable jaw having a slide operative in said slideway provided with ratchet teeth cooperative with said pawl, a box holding compression plate adapted to engage against an inner side of an outlet box provided with nails extending therethrough, leaf springs attached to said plate adapted rto bear against the inside of an outlet box so that it is retained on said compression plate, and edge stops to determine the depth of said box on said compression plate.

3. A hand tool for attaching electrical outlet boxes to frame wall members including, a body frame in the form of la plate, a stationary positioning jaw thereon composed of an angl-e member attached to a notch in `the'front edge thereof with its apex at right angles to the faces of said plate, one flange yof said angle member extending outward to act as a compression plate, and the other flange extending transversely and being provided with depth engaging screws, a slideway formed through said body at right angies :to said compression plate, an outwardly eX- tending `positioning handle extending outward from said body and alined with said compression plate, and a pivotally mounted handle operative to and from said positioning handle having a pawl; in combination with a movable J'aw having a slide operable in said body slideway, ratchet teeth cooperative with said pawl, and a box holding compression plate at right angles yto said slide and disposed in parallel relation to said stationary compression plate adapted for insertion into an outlet box, lprovided with springs for retaining an outlet box thereon, and stops to engage the outer rim of said outlet box.

4. A tool for attaching outlet boxes to wall frame members comprising a plate-shaped body having upper and lower faces, a positioning handle extending outward therefrom, a notch formed on the inner portion of said lbody, and a transverse slideway therethrough,an angle piece forming a pressure plate and a right angularly disposed depth gaging plate set in said notch with the angle apex of said piece at right angles to the faces of said body, said pressure plate facing transversely relative to said body, a movable jaw having a slide operative in said body slideway and a box holding pressure plate thereon facing the pressure plate on said body, spring means for resiliently retaining an outlet box on said box holding Ipressure plate, and means for forcing said box holding pressure plate toward said pressure plate on said body, including a movable handle lpivoted on said -body to swing toward and from said positioning handle, a pawl thereon, and a ratchet on said slide cooperative with said Dawl.

5. A tool for attaching electrical outlet boxes to frame wall members, including, a plateshaped body, a stationary compression plate on the forward portion thereof and extending outward therefrom, a positioning jaw extending transversely from said compression plate having depth gauging pointed screws operative therethrough, said plate and said screws being adapted to eng-age over the edge of a frame wall stud, a transverse slideway for-med .through said body, 'and a positioning handle extending outward from the rear portion of said body, in combination with a movable jaw having a slide operative in said body slideway and a box holding compression plate having its front face facing said stationary com-pression plate, means for resiliently retaining an outlet box thereon with nails extending outward therefrom in the direction of said stationary compression plate, including C- shaped leaf springs attached to the back of said compression plate and adapted to bear on the side of an outlet box placed thereon to urge the opposite box side against the front face of said compression plate, and meansl for forcing said box holding plate toward said stationary :plate including a handle pivoted on said body to swing to and from said positioning handle, a Apawl thereon and a ratchet on the outer portion of said movable jaw slide cooperative with said pawl.

6. A hand tool for attaching outlet boxes to Wall frame members including, a plate-shaped body having a jaw, means adapted to position said body on a wall frame member, including a 4compression plate thereon, and a positioning,r plate at right angles thereto having depth gaging screws, a movable jaw slideway, a positioning handle, and a pivotally mounted handle provided with a pawl; a movable jaw having a slide operative in said slideway provided with ratchet teeth cooperative with said pawl, a box holding `compression plate adapted to engage Iagainst heads of nails set in and yextending outward from the side of an outlet box positioned thereon, so that said nails will be forced into a wall frame member when said box holding plate is forced toward said pressure plate on said body, Ipositioned against said Wall frame member, leaf springs attached to said pressure plate and adapted to bear aga-inst Ithe inside face of the side of said outlet box opposite the side thereof carrying said nails, so that said outlet box with said nails extending outward therefrom is retained on said compression plate.

SIDNEY A. MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 956,128 Mim-mack Apr. 26, 1910 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 450,845 France Jan, 29, 1913 

